[The Angels]The Angels are menacing beings who’s arrival has been prophesied in the Dead Sea Scrolls, real life documents written sometime around 100 B.C, found in the 1940’s near the Dead Sea. In reality they are among one of the most important discoveries in the history of modern archaeology, casting new light on the emergence of Christianity and the Hebrew Bible.

The word "Angel" comes from the Greek "angelos", meaning messenger. In the Japanese version of Evangelion the word “Shito” is used instead of “Angels” as they did in the English dubb. A more correct translation of Shito would be “Apostle”. Although I do not know why, Gainax is believed to have deliberately added this translation. Biblically there are 12 Apostles and 7 ArchAngel’s, however, in Evangelion the are 17. Reasons for this are unknown. And despite to what Misato says, humans are NOT the 18th angel. Reasons for disproving this theory are provided in this database.

Only a few angels are actually named in the Bible: Lucifer, Gabriel, and Michael. That’s it. Raphael is found in the Book of Tobit, part of the Apocrypha found in the Catholic Bible. Lilith comes from the Jewish Midrash, and all the other Angels are from the Apocrypha and the Pseudepigrapha, some hidden documents from the time of the “New Testament”. Adam and Eve, everybody should know that story, are obviously references to the EVA's and the first angel Adam.

The Angel’s mission is to return to Adam, the first angel, who was reduced to an embryonic state in the Second Impact, and now is in the control of NERV. The Angel’s purpose is to test man of his strength and wit, in the end producing one of two fates. Either they will reunite themselves with Adam in the Third Impact, killing all of mankind, or man will control the catastrophe and “evolve” into a higher existence. SEELE (or most likely only Keel) found the Dead Sea Scrolls and saw that man would eventually reach an evolutionary dead end. Keel instead found a way to initiate Third Impact and meld all of humanity’s minds into one.

Kaworu tells that all Angel’s, and humans for that matter (although it is a bit different), possess an AT Field, or a holy “Light of the Soul” barrier that protects them from harm. They also have or possess something equivalent to an S^2 Engine, which lets them operate for an indefinite amount of time.

Following are profiles and information regarding the 17 Angel’s of Evangelion. Read on:

[Lilith]

Lilith is the giant white figure that hangs pierced on a red cross at the bottom of NERV HQ. Her hands are penetrated by nails that are stuck on the cross. Although she does not have a lower body when pierced by the Lance of Loginus, it grows back after the Spear is pulled out. The LCL used in the plugs of the EVAs is Lilith's blood. (Remember how Shinji kept noticing that smell?) Her face is covered by a mask showing the Arm of SEELE. The Coat of Arms is an inverted triangle with Seven eyes. It is unclear if this Coat of Arms is related to Jehova from the "Old Testement", who was an ultimate god who had seven eyes.

In the preaching literatures of the Rabbis, it was said that Lilith (Lilit) was the very first wife of Adam. Unlike Eve, (who was made from one of Adam's ribs) Lilith was not composed from part of Adam, and therefore was not entierly loyal to him. Lilith was said to have left Adam and gone wandering where one day she met Adam and Eve's son Cain. After that, Lilith became a demon who attacked new-born babies, and seduced men in their sleep. In Jewish lore she is said to have later married the Devil himself. Also, it is said that between Adam and Lilith were born the demons and spirits. (Anno made Humans these demons in Evangelion)

In the series it is told that mankind was born from Lilith. Proof of this is how Kaworu uses the name "Lilin" in place of the word "human" or "man." From the legends, Lilin (the name Lil-In is also used) were the children born between Adam and his first wife Lilith. This is the reason why everyone has to return to her during the Third Impact and why originally, SEELE planned to use Lilith to initiate it, through the forbidden fusion between her and Adam.

SEELE tried to start this fusion by tricking the 17th Angel, Tabris(Nagisa Kawrou) into merging with Lilith. The Angel Tabris (who is born from Adam) would proivide the needed components from Adam to start Third Impact. Unfortunatley for SEELE, Kawrou realised that Lilith was indeed not Adam and instead decided to be destroyed by Shinji in episode 24.

When this plan failed, and when the Lance of Loginus was lost, SEELE attempted to use EVA01 in Lilith's place. By this it seems that EVA01 was actually made by copying Lilith. In The End of Evangelion, Lilith was fused with the third clone of Rei and helped in merging all the world's souls together during the Third Impact.

Although there is much discussion about her arisal, Lilith was most likley found by SEELE (or just by Chairman Keel) some time before the Second Impact, probabally lying in the Geofront (a.k.a. "The Egg of Lilith"/ "The Black Moon").

[Adam]

Adam is the second Angel encountered by humanity, but the first ever created. His importance is either more or equal to that of Lilith. Moreover, it was stated in Genesis of the Old Testament in Bible that Adam was the first human created by God based on His image. There are many theories as to what the word "Adam" means. "Earth", "Red" and "Create" have been put forward as some possible theories. While much is unknown to the happenings and whereabouts of the angel Adam I will try to explain the scenario for you:

During the First Impact, presumably when man and all else was first created, Adam and Lilith (Adam's first wife) separated, just as it is told in Jewish folklore. Lilith lied waiting at the "Black Moon" ("The Egg of Lilith"), the place of first life and the area the Geofront was built upon. Adam and the "White Moon" were, in most probability, stationed in Antarctica, since that is where SEELE found him and where the Second Impact was initiated.

Keel's knowledge of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the fates that were to come inevitably brought about a necessary Second Impact. The Second Impact was man's attempt to reduce Adam to an embryonic state, a controllable form that they would use in their plans for Instrumentality. The capture of Adam thereby would awaken the remaining Angel's, who, spawned from Adam, would try to return to him. This is why man had to initiate the Second Impact, because without Adam in their control and the Angel's trying to return to him, there NEVER could have been a constructive Third Impact. Also Adam, in this diminished state, would be much harder for the Angel's to locate and would reduce the damage if humanity were to fail in their quest.

Transported by Rioj Kaji, Adam thereafter was brought and fused into Gendo's right hand.
Gendo would try and fail in using Adam for his own means, attempting to reunite himself with his lost wife Yui.

During the final hours of NERV's takeover in the End of Evangelion, Gendo, using Adam, Rei, and an awakened EVA Unit 01, proceeded with the final steps of his plan. However, when he stuck his had into Rei's body, Rei betrayed Gendo, and freed Adam from him. She then took Adam and merged with the giant Lilith, thereby completing the forbidden fusion, initiating Third Impact.

[Sachiel]

Sachiel, the third angel, bipedal and humanoid in appearance is the first to attack Tokyo-3 following the Second Impact. Scripturaly, Sachiel, meaning "the covering of God", was a cherub who took his residence in the First Heaven. It is believed that Sachiel was cast out of Heaven with Satan and ended up becoming one of the four sub-princes of Hell. Sachiel is remembered as the angel of Thursday and the patron of power and affluence. He is also said to have presided over the planet Jupiter.

Sachiel's attack comes at a burdensome time for NERV, with their only pilot Rei injured; they are in little or no position to defend. When Sachiel demonstrates superiority over the conventional weapons of humanity and on last resort, they send Shinji, an untrained and unstable boy, into Unit 01 to defend it all. Unit 01, getting mauled, with a crack in its brain case, suddenly goes silent. EVA Unit 01(Yui) then suddenly goes berserk, impaling the angel into defeat. Sachiel, facing death, in a failed effort, self-destructs trying to take Unit 01 along with it.

[Shamshiel]

Shamshiel was the Angel who, ruling the Fourth Heaven(the fourth angel get it?), served as the protector of the Garden of Eden. Shamshiel was the angel of the light of day, the "mighty sun of God." It is said that Shamshiel was cast out of heaven, becomming one of the chief aides of the archangel, Uriel. Shamshiel is also supposedly the angel who taught men the astrological secrets of the sun.

Shamshiel comes to Tokyo-3 attacking with whiplike tentacles, making trouble for Unit 01, who meanwhile is trying to protect Kenske and Toji from harm. Shinji, in a bold move against Misato's orders, defeats the angel by splitting it's core with Unit 01's progressive knife.

[Ramiel]

The fifth angel, Ramiel, the angel of thunder, was the one who took presidence over the souls that would be risen from the grave on Judgement Day. He is also said to have been the angel controlling all true visions.
He is also usually associated with the famous archangel Uriel.

Ramiel, a pure defenisve fortress, attempted to breech NERV HQ by use of a drill in a process which would take approx. 16 hours. In this time Misato, draining all the energy out of Japan, powered up a government issued proto-type positron rifle that would be capable of penetrating the defensive shield of Ramiel from a distance. Rei and Unit 00, with a massive shield built from the parts of a space shuttle, defended Shinji while he, on a risky second shot with the rifle, destroyed Ramiel.

[Gaghiel]

One of the more obscure angels, Gaghiel is known as the angel of the fish and is said to have taken rule as the guardian of the Sixth Heaven. Since he was not named in the Bible, the Cathloic church supposedly demoted him to the status of a "fallen angel."

In Evangelion, Gaghiel appears as an aquatic type angel, attacking a UN fleet of battleships carrying Asuka and Unit 02. The reason Gaghiel attacks because the embryonic form of Adam, in the posession of Rioji Kaji, is also secretly being transported abord the ship. Shinji and Asuka, both inside Unit 02, in B-Type equipment, engage in the first underwater sortie with the angel. Misato, using Unit 02 as a hook, reels in and destroys Gaghiel by firing the guns of the UN battleships into it's mouth.

[Israfel]

The seventh angel, Israfel, the angel of resurrection and song (makes sense), a quite popular angel in the biblical sense, is remembered as the angel who will blow the trumpets on Judgement Day. Israfel is also known as "the burning one." None can speak better of her then Edgar Allen Poe, in his 1831 poem titled Israfel:

ISRAFEL
by Edgar Allan Poe, 1831

In Heaven a spirit doth dwell
"Whose heart-strings are a lute";
None sing so wildly well
As the angel Israfel,
And the giddy stars (so legends tell),
Ceasing their hymns, attend the spell
Of his voice, all mute.

Tottering above
In her highest noon,
The enamored moon
Blushes with love,
While, to listen, the red levin
(With the rapid Pleiads, even,
Which were seven,)
Pauses in Heaven.

And they say (the starry choir
And the other listening things)
That Israfeli's fire
Is owing to that lyre
By which he sits and sings-
The trembling living wire
Of those unusual strings.

But the skies that angel trod,
Where deep thoughts are a duty-
Where Love's a grown-up God-
Where the Houri glances are
Imbued with all the beauty
Which we worship in a star.

Therefore thou art not wrong,
Israfeli, who despisest
An unimpassioned song;
To thee the laurels belong,
Best bard, because the wisest!
Merrily live, and long!

The ecstasies above
With thy burning measures suit-
Thy grief, thy joy, thy hate, thy love,
With the fervor of thy lute-
Well may the stars be mute!

Yes, Heaven is thine; but this
Is a world of sweets and sours;
Our flowers are merely- flowers,
And the shadow of thy perfect bliss
Is the sunshine of ours.
If I could dwell
Where Israfel
Hath dwelt, and he where I,
He might not sing so wildly well
A mortal melody,
While a bolder note than this might swell
From my lyre within the sky.

In battle, after Asuka cuts Israfel in half, the angel splits and regennerates into two nearly identical angels, which defeat both Unit 01 and 02. The UN then detonates N^2 mines on the angel temporarily disabling her for 6 days. Living together, practicing an attack pattern choreographed to a Beethoven musical score (prepared by Kaji), Shinji and Asuka prepare for a syncronized assult against Israfel. Using the choreographed plan, the two pliots gracefully defeat Israfel by destroying her core.

[Sandalphon]

Sandalphon, meaning "co-brother," was the "angel of tears" and the master of hevenly song. Known for being one of the tallest angels in all of Heaven, Sandalphon is said to have been important for the process of sexual differentiation in a human embryo.

NERV found Sandalphon, still an embryo form, lying dormant in the depths of a volcano. Asuka and Unit 02 dived into the lava, in a risky mission, attempting to capture the embryo of Sandalphon while he was still alive. However during the attempt, at the bottom of the volcano, the embyro quickly evolved, forcing Asuka to use her cooling systems and the progressive knife to break through the angels's hard shell, destroying Sandalphon.